Planners tout ripple effect from Bluffton medical complex

COLUMBIA — A massive health care complex planned for Bluffton will “create hundreds of indirect jobs” in addition to 325 full-time direct jobs, according to its planners.

That’s a hearty boost, if and when it bears out.

The unemployment rate for Beaufort and Jasper counties was nearly unchanged from the previous month, according to data released last week.

In October Beaufort County had a 6.8 percent jobless rate, while Jasper County held nearly steady at 7.4 percent.

For South Carolina as a whole, the jobless rate receded from 9.1 percent to 8.6.

Nationally, the unemployment rate is 7.9 percent.

PACE Healthcare Commons pressed its case to state regulators this month, requesting a 12-month extension on two of four permits issued by the agency. Providing high-quality care and cost-effectiveness to patients was one part of their pitch. But PACE also pointed to job creation.

“Another major factor that should be considered in approving this extension request is the very favorable economic impact that the Sunnyside/PACE Healthcare Project will generate in the Greater Bluffton — Hilton Head — Lowcountry communities,” reads a letter from PACE executive Brian Cain.

“The project will also create hundreds of indirect jobs, some of which will be on the Sunnyside/PACE healthcare campus (other medical-related businesses and healthcare services) as well as in other parts of the local Bluffon-Hilton Head economy.”

The direct jobs, projected to number at least 325, will come with an average salary of $48,000, according to PACE. Unlike various industrial expansions around the state, PACE is not benefiting from any state tax credits offered as enticement.

The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control board will take up the request in January.

The development is planned for a 16-acre site with south frontage on Bluffton Parkway, half a mile from the west termination at S.C. 170. Initial filings put the cost of the complex at $55 million. Its service market will span six counties located on both sides of the Savannah River: Beaufort, Jasper, Hampton, Colleton and Charleston counties in South Carolina, and Chatham County in Georgia.

Promoters of the complex describe it as an innovative way to deliver services to the community. They also say it is one that boasts a likely unprecedented four, coveted permits known as certificates of need from DHEC. It will house four individually licensed facilities in one place, including a dementia center. It’s expected to break ground by September or October of next year. Post-acute care centers, such as this one, are typically geared toward serving elderly patients.

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